NAUTHORIZED goods worth more than Ks4.8 billion were seized by Myanmar customs last month, according to the official figures released by the Customs Department. In October, the customs department confiscated a wide range of illegal goods with an estimated value of Ks4.817 bil-lion at all customs checkpoints including Yangon International Airport, Yangon port and jetties, Yepu and Mayangyaung check points and other significant points in regions and states, recording more than 456 cas-es. Seized illicit goods included protected timber, alcoholic bev-erages, cosmetics, unregistered motor cars and other restrict-ed commodities. The Customs Department has insufficient strength of staff to prevent the ilegal trade throughout the coun-try. At the present time, there are about 1,700 staffs with nearly 600 of them assigned in border areas, ports, coastal areas and inland customs check points in cooperation with the other de-partments.